Apparently defensive tackle DeMarcus Granger made the right decision to rehabilitate rather than undergo possible season-ending surgery on his injured left foot.

Coach Bob Stoops said Granger could be back at practice next Monday, possibly in time to play against Texas. Stoops also said defensive end Frank Alexander would return to practice that same day after being out of action since the opener because of a cut suffered in an attack outside a private party at a Norman nightspot.

Offensive tackle Trent Williams and tight end Jermaine Gresham practiced Monday. Coaches are saying they’ll evaluate tackle Branndon Braxton as the week goes on, but they expect him to be available Saturday. -- Mike Jones

Let me say up front I dont know TCU coach Gary Patterson, though after covering the Horned Frogs for a decade (the Jim Wacker era into Pat Sullivan) and being aware of the obstacles inherent in building and maintaining a winning program there -- I have a great deal of respect for his coaching ability.

So at least from my point of view -- and I've considered whether to remain silent on this -- I fail to see Patterson's need to whine about the loss to Oklahoma.

"They are the No. 1 team in the nation," Patterson said Sunday, "and we gave one away. I give all the credit to Oklahoma, but we helped them a lot.

"We let them have too many easy plays early, and when we finally woke up and decided to go play football, it was too late."

Now before you go and jump me for being a homer because I now cover OU football, forget it. My only concern at game time -- especially night games -- is that the teams play fast so I don't have to write like (what is left of) my hair is on fire. It does make covering any team easier if it is winning because all concerned are easier to deal with, stories easier to write. But I go on to cover Big 12 basketball and whether OU wins or loses is really no concern of mine. I cover the beat because that's what I'm assigned to do during football season.

And I didn't go to school there.

That said, I could dispute some other talking points Patterson cited. Like did he 'give up' those 'easy' plays' OU scored on in the second half? Did OU's philosophy of running the clock as much as it could in the second half rather than running the full gamut of its offense have any influence on the course of things?

Did he think a 2005 vintage game plan would work three years later? Lining up and stopping Adrian Peterson and forcing Paul Thompson to beat you is one thing. Forcing Sam Bradford to beat you appears to be a whole 'nuther smoke.

Hey, pointing out mistakes his team made is legit. Part of the game. Most coaches do that.

But the notion that TCU 'gave one away' strikes me as ludicrous.

OU coach Bob Stoops declined to respond to Patterson's comment Tuesday, much as I expected. Much as Stoops refused to play the spy game at the beginning of last week. Maybe Patterson should take a cue from "Bobby Stoops," as he referred to him.

Patterson's team played hard last Saturday and maintained his program's respect simply by doing that. He should have let it stand.

I don't begrudge Patterson or his program any success it has now or in the future. It's good for Fort Worth. But the guy has established a program that has a solid, classy national reputation -- one built on playing, not whining.

September 29, 2008

Texas A&M freshman free safety Trent Hunter couldn't have asked for a better debut, logging 17 tackles -- including 11 solos -- while spying the quarterback in the Aggies' 21-17 win over Army. On Monday, Hunter was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, marking the first time an A&M player has been honored this season. The former Katy standout played in place of junior Jordan Peterson, who was nursing shoulder and elbow injuries. Peterson is return to practice this week, but defensive coordinator Joe Kines said it is too early to determine who will start against No. 21 Oklahoma State.

Make it two weeks in a row that Texas A&M has been left off the television schedule for a Big 12 matchup. The Aggies' home game against Kansas State on Oct. 11 will not be televised, and kickoff has been set for 1 p.m. Saturday's game at No. 21 Oklahoma State, which kicks off at 6 p.m., also will not be televised. Chances are good that the Oct. 18 meeting with No. 7 Texas Tech will be picked up, but that may not be the kind of visibility the Aggies are looking for.

September 28, 2008

We referred to UNT's struggles in today's aftermath of Rice's 77-20 victory as a "mess" Todd Dodge stepped into. Actually, it was more a question than a statement.

Anyway, there's debate over Dodge's culpability 16 games into the job, and if the paper that best covers his old team at Southlake Carroll is giving him a pass. Here are facts meant neither to indict UNT's former coaching staff nor mitigate the current one. They're just realities.

1. Dodge inherited a program that lost 19 of 24 games after going to four bowls.

2. As of 2007 national signing day, UNT had lost nearly 30 scholarship players with remaining eligibility since the 2002 season. Reasons varied, but a lion's share were academic and off-field issues. More players from the previous staff have left since Dodge's first spring and fall camp.

3. UNT's past three football grading periods (predating Dodge teams) for the NCAA's Academic Progress Report scored 907, 916 and 917. A score of 925 is deemed acceptable, and Dodge has five less scholarship players as a result. His tenure's first grading period (2007-2008) hasn't been released.

4. Two cornerbacks Dodge inherited leveled unfounded racism charges against his staff last year, thereby separating themselves from the team and depleting the secondary's depth since the middle of last season.

5. Since Dodge's first season, a starting wide receiver and starting safety he inherited have left the program with off-field issues.

6. At Rice on Saturday, Dodge started 11 inherited players. Both teams played lots of players in the blowout, and 18 of UNT's backups or special-teamers Saturday were inherited.

7. Four presumably impact offensive linemen Dodge inherited -- Josh Alexander, Nick Foster, Robert Peachey and Ajani Banks -- left the program after injuries, academic or other issues. Three would still be playing.

8. Dodge inherited an offense with more tight ends than any other specific offensive position.

9. Fans (and co-workers) implored Dodge to hire Gary DeLoach as defensive coordinator, and he did. DeLoach was the people's experienced choice. This is no statement on DeLoach, but remind me: Where is Dodge's gross negligence on that side of the ball?

10. Don't even get me started on Fouts Field. How the previous staff won there is a mystery, but it's a component of any "mess" you apply to the program.

As for Dodge getting a pass, he doesn't from us in these areas:

1. Turning the 2007 defense over to Ron Mendoza, who is now gone.

2. The loss of defensive end Alonzo Horton, who had a chronic, long history of academic problems that ultimately became UNT's problem at transfer time from a junior college. Horton's to blame, too, but his lack of progress towards an associate's degree was somehow missed. It happened to another one of Dodge's JUCO signees, but one of less impact. In five games at Tarleton State, Horton has 20 tackles (12 solo), seven tackles for losses and two sacks.

3. At a certain position, Dodge has more than compensated for his worst signing so far, a former player who turned out with poor academic and character qualities and was signed on the advice of a former prep coaching colleague. If that one's on him, it's of no consequence now.

In the category of withholding judgement:

1. An inability so far to sign or find impact interior defensive linemen, incidentally the thinnest high school position in Texas or many states. Many college players switch to defensive tackle from other positions. Just ask TCU.

2. Until it's determined UNT assistant Robert Drake is incapable of getting UNT's special teams to respond, and it's determined he will no longer coach that position, he deserves a chance to fix a full plate of problems.

Big 12 football teams are front and center in the latest Associated Press football poll, released today.

Oklahoma (4-0) took over the top spot on the strength of the Sooners' 35-10 victory over then-No. 24 TCU by collecting 43 of a possible 65 first place votes. Alabama, with 21 first-place votes, is the new No. 2.

The Sooners were one of four Big 12 teams to crack the Top 10 and one of three league schools to be ranked in the top five. A total of six Big 12 schools cracked the poll.

Oklahoma received 57 of 60 first-place votes to move up to college football's top ranking Sunday in the coaches poll, which is a third of the BCS formula.

The Sooners (4) led a Top 10 that remained dominated by teams from the Big 12 and SEC. LSU moved up to No.2, Missouri was No.3, Alabama was No.4, Texas came in fifth, Texas Tech was up to eighth and Georgia fell from third to a tie for 10th with South Florida. 'Bama, which stunned the Bulldogs between the hedges Saturday night, received two first place votes. LSU got the other one.--Mike Jones.

September 27, 2008

Sam Bradford found Manuel Johnson. And for the third time tonight, Johnson took it in for a touchdown, this time for 63 yards, giving OU a 35-3 lead in the third quarter.Johnson now has 203 yards receiving, a new school record that surpassed Mark Clayton's 190 yards against Texas in 2003. -Trae